United States: City Council Member Calls for an End to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Atrocity of Excising Organs from Living Practitioners

On October 5th, 2006, regarding the CCP's practice of harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners in China, Foster City council member John Kiramis indicated that local governments should condemn the genocide of innocent people, and help to stop the atrocity.

Foster City Council member John Kiramis in front of City Hall

Mr. John Kiramis said that someone asked him why he would concern himself with the organ harvesting issue: What did it have to do with him? He replied, "If I didn't know, I wouldn't care. But now that I know, I can't just close my eyes and cover my ears, pretending to know nothing. If ever I can do something about this issue, as an elected official of a small town, I will step forward to express my position and oppose the atrocity, since it is my responsibility as an individual and as a citizen of the earth."

Mr. Kiramis stated that several Foster City Falun Gong practitioners informed the City Council about the CCP's excising organs from living Falun Gong practitioners in early August. He felt horrible about it. He thought that the city government should pass a resolution to condemn it and make it known to most Americans. In that way, the American people could, with one voice, put pressure on the CCP and force it to stop the atrocity. He was glad to know that the United States Congress has had a hearing on the organ harvesting issue.

When told that others felt it was another country's issue and that it had nothing to do with local government, Mr. Kiramis said that he didn't think that way. He thought it did have something to do with local government. "For many years the local government has taken symbolic stands on many things happening in the world, such as global warming." He thought that taking a stand against human rights violations was necessary.

When asked about the pressure that the Chinese Consulate has exerted on local elected officials concerning the Falun Gong issue, Mr. Kiramis said that local authorities were morally responsible to persist with their viewpoint on issues of ethics and morality. The Falun Gong issue is closely related to morality. He said that local authorities could not compromise just because their opinion might upset the Chinese Communist government, since it is the Chinese Communist government that violated the human rights of the Chinese people.

City Council member Mr. Kiramis has lived in Foster City for 20 years. He was a police officer before serving as a City Council member. He worked in the police department for 29 years. He ran for city council in 2004 after retirement.

Background

The CCP's atrocities of excising organs from living Falun Gong practitioners were disclosed first by a witness in March 2006. On July 6th, former Canadian Secretary of State (Asia and Pacific) and Member of Parliament David Kilgour and international human rights attorney David Matas set up an independent investigation team and published their "Report into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Practitioners in China." The report pointed out, "We believe that there has been and continues today to be large scale organ seizures from unwilling Falun Gong practitioners."

In August, the Australian government and the opposition parties reached a mutual understanding to request an independent investigation into the Chinese Communist Government. In early September, at the Helsinki Summit, the Foreign Minister of Finland, on behalf of Europe, expressed concern on this human rights violation to the Foreign Minister of China and requested an independent investigation. On September 20th, at the Second Session of the United Nations Human Right Commission in Geneva, Mr. Kilgour introduced the report to the delegates. On September 29th, US Congress held a hearing on the CCP's organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners.